THE STORIED AND controversial career of Publius Scipio Aemilianus created a template for future generations of Romans to emulate. He embodied a new spirit of what it meant to be Roman. He embraced Greek philosophy and was comfortable in luxurious surroundings. This new breed of Roman nobiles detested old scolds like Cato the Elder, and they saw no reason to reject good wine and elegant conversation. As the years progressed, the worldview of the Scipione circle would take over the upper classes, who were soon sending their sons to be educated in Athens as a matter of course. Aemilianus even introduced the habit of shaving one’s face daily, which became standard custom of the Roman aristocracy for the next three hundred years.50
On the political front, Aemilianus figured out how to use the Assembly to bypass inconvenient hurdles. He had held two consulships in his career, both secured after special dispensation from an Assembly. As consul, he fought two great wars, both assigned by a special vote of the Assembly rather than by traditional drawing of lots. It was a powerful example that would be used by all future dynasts of the Late Republic. The Assembly was incredibly powerful—the people’s unified voice could override everything. A man who controlled the Assembly could do anything he wanted.
Aemilianus also set a dangerous example when he used his extensive client network to raise a personal legion. In an age wracked by fights over conscription, Aemilianus had no trouble raising men to go conquer Numantia—he was able to call in favors and obligations from across the Mediterranean that raised fully sixty thousand troops. Aemilianus was living proof of what a charismatic and well-connected general could do. Marius, Sulla, and Caesar all followed Aemilianus’s basic principles of operations: raise a personal army and then use the Assembly to legislate your opponents into oblivion.
But though his career pointed to the future Aemilianus himself departed this world as an anachronism. The future would not be defined by noble princes who ruled the world by day and debated Greek philosophy at night. Instead it would be driven by a harder set of men. Publicani merchants steering the empire toward their own profits. Poor farmers squeezed off their land. Urban artisans dealing with recurring grain shortages. Italian Allies frustrated with their lack of civil rights. Slaves by the thousands constantly on the verge of revolt. The next generation would be defined by men who would attempt to harness these forces to control the Republic. But as Aemilianus himself noted, “Those who make themselves up for political competition or the race for glory, as actors do for the stage, must necessarily regret their action, since they must either serve those whom they think they should rule or offend those whom they wish to please.”51
Citizens were not called “good” or “bad” according to their public conduct because in that respect they were all equally corrupt; but those who were wealthiest and most able to inflict harm were considered “good” because they defended the existing state of affairs.
SALLUST1
GAIUS GRACCHUS HAD A DREAM. IN THIS DREAM, HE WAS visited by the ghost of his dead brother Tiberius who said, “However much you may try to defer your fate, nevertheless you must die the same death that I did.” Another version of the dream has Tiberius asking, “Why do you hesitate, Gaius? There is no escape; one life is fated for us both, and one death as champions of the people.” Gaius liked to tell the story of his dream because it gave the impression that he was not just another politician indulging personal ambition: instead he was being called to public service by a higher power. But though he feigned humility it is clear that from a young age, Gaius Gracchus aimed to become the greatest Gracchus of them all.2
Though they were raised in the same house, by the same mother, and with the same tutors, the personalities of Tiberius and Gaius could not have been more different. Plutarch makes much of their divergent temperaments. Where Tiberius was “gentle and sedate,” Gaius was “high-strung and vehement.” Tiberius lived “simple and plain” while Gaius was “ostentatious and fastidious.” When speaking in public, Tiberius relied on quiet empathy while Gaius exuded exaggerated charisma.3
Gaius saw his older brother for the last time in the spring of 134 BC. Twenty-year-old Gaius departed for his first campaign in Spain believing that the family was on the cusp of greatness. His older brother was preparing to introduce the
